Conditioning apparatus



Sept. 14, 1954 H. N. lPsEN CONDITIONING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed OC'C. 4, 1951 q-ow-aici Im @l-...0" j v- (LN-16A l? ICA-ITOMEZY/ Sept. 14, 1954 H. N. lPsEN 2,538,808

CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 marcial Ipdem M9 CMM' PA/Cb/CMA/M-Jfwuf Y TTOMBW Patented Sept. 14, 1954 CONDITIONING APPARATUS Harold N. Ipsen, Rockford, Ill. Application October 4, 1951, Serial N o. 249,7 69

1 Claim.

'Ihe present invention relates to a conditioning apparatus in which conditioned air is circulated within a chamber to treat workpieces, and the general object is to provide a new and improved apparatus of the above character in which the conditioned air is circulated above, below and along-side of the workpieces.

A more detailed object is to provide such an apparatus in which a fan and a conditioning device over which the air from the fan is directed are compactly arranged adjacent the chamber floor and the workpieces are supported on an open framework platform above the fan and the conditioning device to cause the conditioned air to circulate freely about the workpieces.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of a partition and a deflector which coact to direct the air from the fan over the conditioning device and above and below the material supporting platform.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view showing a conditioning device embodying the novel features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the material supporting unit.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the material supporting unit shown in Fig. 3.

In the form shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is utilized to conditionv workpieces by circulating air in an endless path within a chamber Ill in which the workpieces are supported above a horizontal duct II in which is disposed a conditioner I2 and a fan I3 for inducing the air flow.

The chamber I is defined by a generally rectangular box-like housing I4 having a door-controlled opening I5 in the front wall through which the workpieces, which may be carried in a tray I6, may be introduced and transferred onto a horizontal platform I1. The latter comprises spaced bars I 3 extending across and joined to laterally spaced flanges I9 upstanding from a plate spanning and resting on ledges 2l so as to be spaced above the floor 22 of the chamber. A space 23 is thus provided beneath the platform I'l for the free circulation of the conditioned air across the bottom as well as above the work tray.

The plate 20 forms a partition between the conditioning chamber and the duct II which is dened by the plate cooperating with the floor 22. The duct inlet is a hole 24 in the plate adjacent the door end of the chamber. The other or rear end of the plate is spaced from the rear wall of the chamber to form an outlet which is divided into two parts by a deflector vane 25 spanning the chamber Ill. From its lower vertical edge, the vane curves upwardly and forwardly and thus acts to divert a portion of the conditioned air stream forwardly and beneath the platform I1. The remainder of the air stream flows upwardly along the rear wall and thence forwardly and horizontally above the platform as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1.

Where the workpieces are to be heated, the conditioner I2 may comprise electric heaters 2S extending across the duct II intermediate the ends thereof. Herein, the heaters project through an opening 2l (see Fig. 2) in one side wall of the casing III, the opening being closed by a cover 28.

To enable the fan to operate in the relatively shallow duct I I and yet induce a flow longitudinally thereof, the impeller I3 comprises a plurality of angularly spaced vanes 29 radiating from and fixed to the upper end of a shaft 3l) which projects down through a hole 3| in a plug 32 removably secured in the bottom wall and larger in size than the impeller. The latter is enclosed by a tubular casing 33 depending from the partition 20 around the inlet hole 24, the casing having an outlet 34 facing horizontally and directed longitudinally of the duct II. The shaft is journalled in bearings on the plug 32 and a bracket 33 and may be belt driven at its lower end from a motor 36.

In operation, the rotating impeller I3 draws air from the chamber I0 downwardly through the hole 2li and discharges the same horizontally along the duct I I and over the conditioner I2. At the outlet end of the duct, the stream of conditioned air is split by the deector 25, the minor part being bent reversely and horizontally between the flanges I9 and beneath the work supported on the platform I1. The remainder flows upwardly and then horizontally above the platform across the top and along the sides of the work tray. All sides of the work are thus subjected to the same conditioning action which is conducive to uniform treatment of the work.

It will be observed that the platform Il and the partition 2l] form a unitary structure which may be lifted 01T from the floor 22 and removed from the chamber I0 through the door opening. If desired, the fan I3 and the conditioner I2 may also be removed after removal of the covers from the openings in the bottom and side of the charnber l0. The latter and the parts of the conditioning apparatus may thus be cleaned or serviced conveniently.

I claim as my invention:

In a conditioning apparatus, the combination of an enclosure having top, bottom, side and end walls defining a chamber, a vertical shaft projecting through said bottom wall and into said chamber adjacent a rst one of said end walls, an impeller comprising a plurality of angularly spacec Vanes disposed close to said bottom wall and proj ecting generally radially from the upper end portion of said shaft, a substantially imperforate partition disposed above said impeller and parallel to said bottom wall to cooperate with the bottom wall in defining a duct along which air leaving the periphery of the impeller is directed, said partition extending from side to side of said enclosure and from said rst end Wall to a point short of the second end wall to cooperate with said second end wall and define an outlet for said duct, means dening an opening in said partition above said impeller to permit the latter to draw air axially from said chamber, conditioning 4 means disposed Within said duct between said impeller and said outlet, a single open framework material supporting platform spaced above and paralleling said partition, and an elongated deector horizontally disposed within said outlet between said second end wall and the adjacent end of said partition and extending transversely across substantially the full width of said chamber, said deector having its lower edge adjacent the plane of said partition and curving upwardly and away from said second end wall generally to merge with said platform thereby to directI conditioned air both above and below the platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,409,915 Barducci Mar. 21, 1922 1,906,799 Lobley May 2, 1933 2,240,528 Tanner May 6, 1941 2,273,233 Tanner Feb. 17, 1942 2,396,455 Booth Mar, 12, 1946 2,408,331 Mills Sept. 24, 1946 2,561,517 Ladge July 24, 1951 2,601,765 Turquette, Jr., et al. July 1, 1952 

